A Revolutionary Cemetery in Watertown

From Dave Brigham:

Established in 1754, the Common Street Cemetery in Watertown, Mass., is nestled right up tight to the small city's high school. You can see the brick building in the background of the photo below.

(Beautiful white headstone with solar-powered light.)

At nearly three acres, the graveyard sits just outside Watertown Square. There are approximately 500 headstones located here. In addition to serving as a burial ground for Watertown, which was the first inland town settled by English colonists in 1630, this site was once the location of the town's second meetinghouse, which played a role in the American Revolution.

From my old pal MACRIS: "During the Revolution, most of the military action took place elsewhere, but Watertown was a focal point for organizing resistance against the British. The Provincial Congress met at the meeting house on Common Street from April 22, 1775 to May 29, 1775. On May 19, 1775 a Committee of Safety was appointed to assemble, dispose and discharge the militia and to direct the army. It included John Hancock, Doctor Joseph Warren and eleven others. On July 19, 1775, the third Provincial Congress, consisting of 206 delegates, dissolved and organized as the General Court of Massachusetts, holding sessions until November 19, 1776 when it moved to a townhouse in Boston."

In 1836, the meetinghouse was torn down, and cattle that had been grazing on this property were moved to other pastures, per MACRIS. It was then that the cemetery was enlarged. I cruised through here quickly, and never saw the plaques for the meetinghouse that are on the grounds somewhere.

The abutting high school was built in 1925. I'm not sure what, if anything, that institution replaced on the site. As I mentioned, the school bumps right up against the boneyard, with no barriers between the two whatsoever.

And at some point somebody, presumably a male student/class clown, decided to make his mark for graveyard enthusiasts to admire (below).

Anyway, included among the several hundred tombstones and burial vaults are "the graves of a number of the town's founding families and of those who contributed significantly to Watertown's history," per MACRIS.

At least two of those interred here have seemingly turned over in their graves, perhaps due to the antics of their next-door neighbors at the high school.

Considering that I live in the town next to Watertown, I haven't written much about it over the last decade. Below are links to a few things I have written. I am presently working on a long post about Watertown Square, and will try to cover more of the town in 2021.

March 2, 2013, "Rebuilding the Lost City: Second Update"

July 23, 2011, "This Old, Decrepit House: Update #2"

May 19, 2010, "Nuclear Dump Playground?"